Marginalization

To understand the tribulations faced by Lyon, let us first define marginalization...

" A person or group that is rendered as insignificant, unimportant, or peripheral".

Adapted from: Oxford Dictionary

Figure 1. Women advocate for equal pay at the House of Commons in 1954. This is around the time Lyon was pursuing her research.

Females in Science in the 20th Century

The 20th century was a period of remarkable inequality as women fought to obtain an equal status to men. Almost every aspect of a woman was viewed as inferior to men.

Women in science were not excluded from these inequalities. Along with unequal pay and fewer rights, women in science often struggled to find places to carry out research or obtain funding, were not allowed into research facilities, or were excluded from university classes. A female working in a scientific lab was almost always working in a subordinate position (Satzinger 2004).

Females in the scientific field who were successfully able to find research facilities or jobs often were not taken seriously in their studies, mistreated by colleagues, and laughed at or not taken seriously for any discoveries they made. Workplaces, research facilities, and other professional settings often refrained from employing females because they were seen as mentally lesser, weak, and excessively emotional (Charlesworth and Banaji 2019). What's noteworthy is that when the field of genetics became prestigious in the early to mid-20th century following the acceptance of Mendelian genetics, female geneticists "got marginalized or were made invisible" by their male colleagues and were named as only supporting scientists, even if they had done the work (Satzinger 2004). Unfortunately for Lyon, she entered the academic world in the midst of these hardships and experienced all of this.

Figure 2. Sonia Nassif, the first female employed at the International Atomic Energy Agency, at her own work bench in the lab.

Figure 3. Lyon in 1950. Location of photo unknown.

A university that doesn't give degrees?

They do, just not to women...

In 1943, Lyon began her studies at Girton College, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. At this time, women were not considered full members of the university and did not actually receive a genuine degree. Instead, women received only titular degrees. It is still widely speculated why this was the case, however, some suspected reasons include the now-extinct belief that women did not have the physical stamina to withstand strenuous mental activities such as studying or engaging in lab work (McMurran and Tattersall 2017). Even when these myths were disproven, Cambridge's executives held firm. Admitting women to degrees as full members of the university would allow them to participate in the decision-making processes, a task no Cambridge graduates were willing to bestow upon women. The university seemed unquestionably a male institution. Lyon finished her bachelor's degree in 1946 and did not receive a real degree; only a titular one.

Key term: Titular

Titular means to hold or constitute a purely formal position or title without any real authority.

Imagine studying for years and spending thousands of hours and dollars only to earn a glorified participation ribbon at the end of it all. This is exactly what Lyon received at the end of her degree.

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

Lyon on Marginalization

In an interview with Lyon published in 2010, she detailed the frustration she experienced during the early years of her scientific career. She explained that it was frustrating to be restricted by the men to only 500 females while over 5 000 males attended the university (Gitschier 2010). Furthermore, she wondered, why, if "we used to go to the lectures with men, took the same practical courses as the men, and took the same exams as the men" did they not receive the same status as men? This articulates the marginalization experienced by women in science in the 20th century. Lyon also added that at some times throughout her career, she found it difficult to find labs that would take her on as a researcher and that she found some of her male superiors difficult to work with as they did not think highly of women (Gitschier 2010).

Not only did Lyon experience marginalization and prejudice in the scientific field, but also from her family and society. When asked if her [Lyon's] parents were supportive in her endeavours to obtain a Ph.D., Lyon said "I think so", followed close by: "... But they just wanted me to get married" (Gitschier 2010). Evidently, she was not fond of this expectation. Again, the societal prejudices against women are conceptualized here. Where women were expected to marry and have a family, men were not. It was these types of societal pressures women were prone to during Lyon's lifetime.

Despite these personal and professional hardships, Lyon persevered and was able to establish a name for herself in the field of biology, becoming one of the most pioneering female geneticists of the 20th century.

Click here to view references for this page

Charlesworth TES and Banaji MR. 2019. Gender in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: Issues, Causes, Solutions. J Neurosci. [accessed 2023 Nov 23];39(37): 7228-7243. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0475-18.2019.

Gitschier J. 2010. The Gift of Observation: An Interview with Mary Lyon. PLoS Genet. [accessed 2023 Nov 28];6(1): e10000813. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000813

Marginalization noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com. 2023. Oxfordlearnersdictionariescom. [accessed 2023 Dec 5]. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/marginalization?q=marginalization.

McMurran SL, Tattersall JJ. 2017. Fostering academic and mathematical excellence at Girton College 1870–1940. In: Beery, J., Greenwald, S., Jensen-Vallin, J., Mast, M., editors. Women in mathematics, vol.10. Gewerbestrasse (CH): Springer; [accessed 2023 5 November]. 3-37. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66694-5_1

Satzinger H. 2004. Women’s Places in the New Laboratories of Biological Research in the 20th century: Gender, Work and the Dynamics of Science. 13th ed. Prague (Czec): Výzkumné centrum pro dějiny vědy. https://www.genderopen.de/handle/25595/251

Photo references

Header image: Lawson M. 2022 Dec 14. How to Combat Marginalization to Create an Inclusive Workplace. Gannett Fleming. Vancouver (BC): Gannett Fleming; [accessed 2023 Nov 21]. https://www.gannettfleming.com/contact/#canada

Figure 1. Thompson S. 2022 Sept 12. The untold story of a mid-20th century group of women fighting for equality in marriage – and why it matters today. Toronto (ON): The Conversation; [accessed 2023 Nov 23]. https://theconversation.com/the-untold-story-of-a-mid-20th-century-group-of-women-fighting-for-equality-in-marriage-and-why-it-matters-today-190007.

Figure 2. Dojkanova L and Yusuf O. 2021. Women and Girls in Science: How the IAEA has Contributed to the Development of Scientists over the Years. IAEA. Vienna (Aus): International Atomic Energy Agency; [accessed 2023 Nox 23]. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/women-and-girls-in-science-how-the-iaea-has-contributed-to-the-development-of-scientists-over-the-years

Figure 3. Haines C. 2018. Lyon, Mary Frances. Oxford DNB. [accessed 2023 Nov 23]. https://doi.org/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.109090

Figure 4. Hall Screensprints. [date unknown]. East Bellina (Aus): Hall Screenprints. Participation ribbon awards; [accessed 2023 Nov 23]. https://hallscreenprints.com.au/product/participant-award-ribbons-200-x-50-mm-metallic-gold-print/?v=13b249c5dfa9

Figure 5. Mary Lyon: 20th century geneticist. Understanding Animal Research. https://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/mary-lyon-geneticist.

Page updated

Report abuse